College isn't worth this
by sweatercladpumpkin
Summary: Tara's babysitting gig was going swimmingly. That was until she was tasked with looking after Steven Universe for the day. Or; Pearl freaks out a local teenager by throwing playground equipment at them cause no one gets between her and her baby (also Garnet and Amethyst are there and are NOT helping the situation).


Tara really didn't think that her day would end up like this.

She took the babysitting job as a way to get money for College. It's not as if there were many employment opportunities in Beach City, even as a part timer, so this had left her with two options, babysitting or pet sitting. Problem was that she was allergic to any kind of fur so left her with babysitting. Not that she minded; it was something, she guessed. It's just that, as the youngest of three children, she never had the opportunity to really be around babies or little kids.

Her first job, babysitting Ronaldo and little Peedee Fryman, had actually went pretty well (even if she did have to endure 4 hours of Ronaldo talking non-stop about Beach City conspiracy theories), and it gave her the confidence to take on more jobs. Babysitting the Pizza twins and Sadie Miller had gone just as smoothly.

That is until she agreed to watch Mr Universe's little boy, Steven.

Mr Universe was a nice man, although Tara always thought he looked stressed out a lot of the time. It was to be expected she guessed. Beach City was a _very_ small town and as a result everyone knew that Steven's mother died giving birth to him. Tara supposed that would make anyone on edge. Not to mention Steven's strange 'aunts' (well she assumed they were his mother's sisters or something along those lines), probably didn't make Mr Universe's life any easier for him. They were a mysterious bunch that mostly kept to themselves, however, she did often see the purple one (seriously she was _purple_ ) hanging around the boardwalk on occasion.

Tara remembers Stevens's mother. She would often be seen around town with a smiling Mr Universe at her side. As a small child, Tara had been fascinated with her long pink curls. Steven's mother was very beautiful and from what everyone said about her, was very kind and curious of the world around her. It really was a shame that she died. It was even more of a shame that Steven would never meet her and that Mr Universe would have to raise their son alone. Really, it was a sad situation all round.

Speaking of Steven, he was currently babbling about his adventures with his 'aunts' as he contented himself playing in the sandbox. He was making great progress with that sand castle he had started when they had arrived 2 hours ago. Tara was surprised that he didn't want to go play with the other kids - she had asked him a couple of times now - but Steven had insisted that he was happy playing in the sand box with her. And really it's not that Tara minded, he was actually pretty great company for a four year old.

Mr Universe had to go out of town for the majority of the day on business, so Tara had been tasked with entertaining Steven for the day. That morning had gone off without a hitch, Steven dutifully ate his snacks and lunch with no complaints and he was perfectly content with watching the few Disney movies that were remnants of Tara and her sibling's childhood.

Of course though, with it being such a nice day outside, Tara had decided to take Steven to the park – a decision Steven had excitedly agreed with.

Looking back at it later, Tara thought that maybe it would have been better to just play in her backyard, regardless of how small it is. It certainly would have avoided a lot of trouble in the long run.

Something strange caught her attention from the corner of her eye, and Tara looked up from where she was filling up another bucket of sand for Steven's sandcastle to see Steven's purple aunt walking past the playground entrance. As if sensing Tara's gaze, Steven's aunt turned towards them, freezing mid-step as she watched Tara and Steven play.

Tara – always the friendly one as her sister would say – shyly waved at the purple woman as a way of invitation to join them. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect as Steven's aunt – now with a look of panic on her face, _weird_ – slowly backed away from the park entrance before bolting back from where she came.

Confused by what just happened, Tara went back to filling her bucket. Steven – oblivious to the strange interaction – was still chattering away, now about the TV show that he and his Dad were watching the night before. Eventually, Tara just shrugged it off and continued helping Steven with his creation.

The next ten minutes passed much in this way, with Tara as the designated bucket filler, and Steven directing the operation as the master architect. The kids that had been climbing on the nearby playground equipment had gone home, it was nearing their dinner time curfews. Tara checked her watch and noticed that Mr Universe would be back soon. She stood, brushing the sand from her shorts and the backs of her legs.

"Come on, Steven. It's getting pretty late and your Dad will be back soon." She lifted the small boy to his feet, helping him brush off the sand clinging to his clothes.

"But my sand castle isn't done yet." Steven pouted.

Tara collected the bucket and spade at her side, "Sorry kiddo, but I've got to get you back to your Dad in time or he'll worry." Steven seemed to consider this and his pout turned into a look of concern. Tara was amazed really that Steven had a strong sense of empathy at four years old. He seemed aware that his Dad worried a lot about him, and unlike most kids, wasn't particularly bratty about getting their own way. She honestly didn't know if that impressed or concerned her.

"But hey!" Tara continued, in an attempt to cheer Steven up, "Even though it's not finished, it's a pretty impressive castle! I can take a picture of it so that you can show your Dad. Does that sound like a good idea?"

The look on Steven's face suggested that it was a _fantastic_ idea. Tara softly chuckled as she dug her phone out to take the photo.

She never got the chance too.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BABY!"

That was all the warning Tara got before her afternoon turned to crap.

The flurry of movement caught her off guard. One minute, Steven had been standing in front of her in the sandbox; the next, he was cradled in the arms of one of his aunts, the taller one with the glasses, Tara noted. Tara had barely anytime to process what had happened when a whip narrowly avoided hitting her right arm; instead it caught the bucket and spade, splintering the plastic in her hand.

A scream escaped her as she scurried for the cover of the playground equipment, narrowly avoiding another crack of the whip. Panicked, but now cowering in the relative safety of the underside of the slide, Tara took in the scene in front of her. Steven was safe, thank goodness, cradled in his aunt's arms as she appeared to be murmuring soft reassurances to the small boy. Tara supposed that if his aunts were here, then that must mean that they were caught up in another fight. Living in Beach City all her life, Tara was pretty used to the weird fights that happened on occasion. Ronaldo Fryman's conspiracy theories may have been a tad farfetched, but no one who lived in the town doubted that things were definitely weird here.

However, Tara couldn't see the enemy that his aunts were facing. The Purple one and the Slim one were across the playground from her, glaring daggers at her from where she cowered under the play equipment…

"Oh crap." Tara squeaked at the realisation that they thought that _she_ was the enemy.

Oh this was not going to end well.

Before she was given the chance to explain the situation, the Slim one was moving towards her, _fast._ Tara frantically crawled on all fours out from her hiding space just as the playground equipment was lifted straight out of the ground. At a glance back, Tara saw Slim carrying the entire playground set – slide, tunnel, and everything – with ease, before throwing it in Tara's direction with as little effort as if she were tossing a baseball at her. Horrified, Tara tried to scramble to her feet to avoid being crushed, sand flying in all directions in her panic. Luckily, the play equipment missed its target, instead landing behind her. However, it now blocked the exit to the park.

Tara, now near hyperventilating, turned to face her assailant as Slim walked towards her, Purple and Glasses flanking her on each side. Tara chanced a glance at Steven, who despite being protected from the fight, looked at her terrified.

The spearhead pointed at her chest turned her attention again to Slim, now standing in front of her. If looks could kill, then Tara would have been dead ten times over.

"Who are you and why do you have Steven?" Slim interrogated her, venom dripping from every word.

Tara struggled to get out an explanation out, fear making her breathing ragged and mind reeling. "I – I- I'm…"

"WAIT!"

Steven's aunts turned towards the voice, with Steven yelling out an excited "Dad!"

Mr Universe hurriedly closed the distance between them, weaving around the now broken play equipment that blocked the path, his focus on Steven's aunts. "What are you doing?!" the poor man sounded like he was at his wits end, as he reached out for his son, who gladly went to the safety of his Dad's arms.

Slim turned her glare back towards her and Tara involuntarily held her breath out of fear, "This girl kidnapped Steven." Slim provided as explanation for the whole ordeal.

"She's Steven's babysitter!" Mr Universe explained, exasperated. "I had to go out of town for the day and you guys were out on a mission and I needed someone to watch him!"

Realisation dawned on the women and Slim finally retracted the spear pointed at Tara's chest.

"Oh." Slim looked apologetically at Tara. "I'm so sorry. I may have over-reacted a bit there."

Purple snorted, "Yeah throwing playground equipment at a human is definitely over-reacting, _just a bit_."

Mr Universe, having now just really taken in the destroyed play equipment around them, paled, "Wait, you threw what?!"

Slim ignored Mr Universe as she squared her shoulders and turned on the purple woman, "Well what was I supposed to think! _You_ came into the temple saying that you saw Steven with some _stranger!_ "

Purple looked sheepish at that, "Oh yeah, I kinda did do that didn't I."

Tara, having not moved from her spot since Mr Universe showed up, as she desperately tried to process what the hell just happened, looked away from the two bickering women when she noticed Steven's glasses-wearing aunt walk towards her. She couldn't help but flinch away as Glasses reached out to her to help her off the ground. Tara took the outstretched hand tentatively and she was gently lifted to her feet.

"Please forgive us for attacking you." Glasses apologised in a stoic manner, and Tara, still too dumbfounded to speak, managed a numb nod in response.

Glasses nodded back before turning to her still bickering 'sisters', "Alright Gems, we're done here. Time to go home." And just as suddenly as they came, they left, jumping off in the direction of the beach.

Mr Universe sighed tiredly from where he stood next to her, running the hand that wasn't holding Steven over his face, "I'm so sorry about that, they're…overprotective of Steven since Rose died."

"T-that's alright. I understand. I-I guess." Tara finally found her voice, though it cracked in numerous places.

"I'll pay you extra for the trouble." Mr Universe grabbed his wallet, shaking the cash slightly at Tara when she tried to refuse. "Please." he insisted.

Tara caved and accepted the money. The afternoon's events were slowly catching up with her as she watched Mr. Universe leave, Steven waving enthusiastically back at her.

Tara waved back with a small smile before dropping onto her knees in exhaustion. Steven was a cute kid, that was for sure, and she enjoyed spending the day with him. Well, for the most part.

 _But maybe I should give up the babysitting gig_ , Tara thought. She turned and looked at the broken play equipment that was so close to crushing her.

Yeah, College honestly wasn't worth this.


End file.
